South Korean soldiers stand guard facing North Korea at the Joint Security Area in Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, June 25, 2014. (Photo: Woohae Cho / The New York Times)

The fact that the Korean War ended with a temporary cease-fire rather than a permanent peace treaty has given the North Korean government justification to invest heavily in the country's militarization. Another 50 years failed policy that needs to change?

..............More bombs were dropped on Korea from 1950 to 1953 than on all of Asia and the Pacific islands during World War II, with the near possibility of the deployment of an atomic bomb. One year into the Korean War, US Major General Emmett O'Donnell Jr. testified before the Senate, "I would say that the entire, almost the entire Korean Peninsula is just a terrible mess. Everything is destroyed. There is nothing standing worthy of the name . . . There [are] no more targets in Korea."

Nearly 4 million people were killed in the three-year Korean War, which has come to be known by historians as the "forgotten war." In 1953, North Korea, China and the United States, representing the United Nations Command, signed a temporary cease-fire agreement with a promise to sign a peace treaty. That promise was never upheld. Sixty years later, millions of Korean families are still separated by the world's most militarized border - the two-mile wide demilitarized zone (DMZ) - and are still living in a state of war.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan’s Past, Pakistan’s Future | World Affairs JournalFor more than two decades, from the early 1970s to the mid 1990s, Pakistan had a higher per capita income than India, the country from which it separated in 1947 and against which it has fought four wars. While independent India enjoyed relative political stability and—following its economic reforms in the early 1990s—material progress, Pakistan has regressed. Poverty and violence have ravaged this country of 160 million people, who suffer from the misrule of an impotent civil government, the paranoia of an omnipotent military and intelligence network, and the terror of radical Islam.

Friday, December 12, 2014

Liu Xiaobo sends message to the world: pay attention to other Chinese activists | World news | The GuardianThe jailed Chinese Nobel peace prize laureate Liu Xiaobo has told an overseas friend that he is relatively healthy but wants the world to pay more attention to other Chinese activists.In a message that was smuggled out of prison, he writes: “The aura around me is enough already. I hope the world can pay more attention to other victims who are not well known, or not known at all.” .The message was to Liao Yiwu, who posted it on Facebook on Thursday. Liao did not say how he received the message from Liu, who is serving an 11-year sentence for inciting state subversion. Liu’s friends have said the message is genuine.

Fifteen killed in "terrorist attack" in China's Xinjiang: state media - Yahoo NewsA group of "terrorists" launched an attack on civilians Friday in Shache county, leaving four people dead and 14 wounded. Eleven "terrorists" were also shot dead during the violence, according to CCTV, China's state broadcaster.Chinese state news agency Xinhua confirmed the death toll, citing a statement from local authorities.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Kim Jong-Un's Little Sister Takes Top JobNorth Korea has named Kim Jong-Un's younger sister as a senior party official, confirming her rise to become a potential key aide to the leader.Kim Yo-Jong first made a public appearance at the funeral of her father and longstanding ruler Kim Jong-Il in December 2011.Believed to be 26, she since been seen occasionally accompanying her brother to political events and on his "field guidance trips", but without any specific title attached to her name.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

BBC News - India tea workers kill owner in pay dispute in West BengalThe owner of the Sonali tea estate in West Bengal was dragged out of talks on the payment of arrears. He died after being beaten up and stabbed by a crowd.Police say the owner had come to pacify angry workers who had reportedly not been paid for two or three months.Correspondents say many workers in India's tea plantations are malnourished and poorly paid.

Monday, November 17, 2014

BBC News - Japan's economy makes surprise fall into recessionPrime Minister Shinzo Abe is widely expected to call a snap election to seek a mandate to delay an increase in the sales tax to 10%, scheduled for 2015.The tax increase was legislated by the previous government in 2012 to curb Japan's huge public debt, which is the highest among developed nations.

BBC News - Thai police ban Scot's book for 'insulting' royal familyA Kingdom In Crisis, by Andrew MacGregor Marshall, was released last week by British publishers Zed Books.Thai police chief General Somyot Poompanmoung said its contents "might affect national security and order".Anyone violating the ban faces a maximum three years in jail, a fine of 60,000 baht (£1,160), or both.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

India wins US support for massive food stockpiling scheme | South China Morning PostUnder the pact with Washington, India will lift a veto on a global agreement on streamlining customs rules that is likely to add US$1 trillion to the world economy as well as 21 million jobs - 18 million of them in developing countries.Modi, elected in May, had pulled the plug on the World Trade Organisation agreement four months ago because he objected to a related deal on food security.Washington, which was the principal opponent of India's food scheme on the grounds that it distorted trade, hailed yesterday's deal. Trade Representative Michael Froman said it would "give new momentum to multilateral efforts at the WTO" and predicted the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) struck by the WTO last year in Bali, Indonesia, would now win quick ratification.Yet, at a conference call to brief reporters on the deal, Froman declined to answer questions on what concessions India had given in return.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

US President Barack Obama looks on as Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during a joint press conference in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Photograph: GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images

The United States and China have unveiled a secretly negotiated deal to reduce their greenhouse gas output, with China agreeing to cap emissions for the first time and the US committing to deep reductions by 2025. MORE

BBC News - North Korea frees detained US men Miller and BaeClapper held direct talks with the North Korean authorities to secure the releases.The BBC's Charles Scanlon says that the contact will lead to hope of a breakthrough in the long diplomatic deadlock between the two sides.The US department of state said in a statement that it "welcomes the release of US citizens Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller from the DPRK [North Korea], where they have been held for two years and seven months, respectively".It added: "The United States has long called on DPRK authorities to release these individuals on humanitarian grounds. We join their families and friends in welcoming them home."

Thursday, November 6, 2014

An RMB clearing bank has officially opened in the Euljiro district of Seoul. The Bank of Communications of China held its opening ceremony on Nov. 6, attended by Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol, Bank of Communications Chairman Niu Siming, and many others.

The clearing bank is going to be responsible for Korean companies’ yuan-based settlements in transactions with China. Before its opening, they had to go through a Korean bank, then a commercial bank in Hong Kong, a clearing bank in Hong Kong, and finally the China National Advanced Payment System (CNAPS) of the People's Bank of China for yuan-based payments and collections. However, the procedure is now simplified to three steps including a Korean bank, the Bank of Communications, and CNAPS, which means they can save fees and avoid financial risks.

At the same time, the clearing bank is supposed to fulfill the function of an off-shore branch of the People's Bank of China supplying short-term yuan liquidity.

When yuan-based transactions take place in Korea, a temporary liquidity shortage could follow. In this case, the clearing bank provides short-term loans for commercial banks and securities companies in Korea, the Korea Securities Depository, etc.

- See more at: http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/article/7179/new-income-rmb-clearing-bank-opens-seoul#sthash.c13aZf5F.dpuf

Seouls’ Pimatgol, an ancient thoroughfare once used by commoners to avoid having to bow to aristocrats on the main boulevard. (Photo: riNux / Flickr)

Horse Avoiding Alley is almost gone.

For more than half a millennium, this narrow alleyway in the heart of Seoul stretched for several kilometers parallel to and just half block north of the major thoroughfare of Jongno Street. Its name, Pimatgol in Korean, refers to the route that commoners took to avoid constantly bowing to the aristocrats on horses on the main boulevard. When I first visited Seoul in the late 1990s, it was truly breathtaking to walk through the hypermodern city and then duck, suddenly, into this Chosun-era back alley of pungent restaurants and teashops.

Today, only a tiny stretch of Pimatgol remains, along with a commemorative placard and a wooden gate that leads into a half-block of modern storefronts.

Vietnam’s stock market continues to rank among the top five fastest growing markets in the world. During the first nine months of 2014 the key indices (VN-Index and HNX-Index) rose by 19.9% ​​and 30.4% respectively compared with the same period in 2013. The Vietnamese real estate market is growing as well, the rate of the Vietnamese Dong remains stable, and the country’s currency reserves reached a record level of US $35 billion.The situation in the economy today is so favourable for investment that the US Chamber of Commerce in Singapore include Vietnam in the list of the most attractive ASEAN countries for American businessmen. The well-known Fitch rating agency recently announced its intention to increase Vietnam’s rating from B + to BB- due to the stable growth of the economy. More

Monday, November 3, 2014

...................Gen. Richard Stilwell, a former USFK commander, has called it the “most remarkable concession of sovereignty in the entire world.”

“The true significance of this decision is that a country that can’t decide for itself whether to go to war - a matter of the state and its people‘s survival - is voluntarily qextending measures that basically make it a military protectorate,” said military affairs critic Kim Jong-dae.............READ MORE